FERA Conference, October, London

Feedback from FERA Conference, Friday 22nd October

Engaging 16-19 year-olds in Learning: Carrot or Stick?
Participation, Retention and Achievement

This was an interesting conference raising several issues that we could consider in relation to CfE, MCMC and learner engagement. Although the conference was primarily focused on provision in England and Wales, some of the issues were pertinent to Scotland, and there was also discussion relating to recent MCMC research findings in Scotland.
I’ve tried to summarise the main ideas presented, but can give further information to anyone interested.
1. Geoff Hayward, Director of Research at the Department of Education, University of Oxford and Director of the Nuffield 14-19 Review.
• More young people are being attracted into further education, and are staying in the system for longer. However, there is statistical evidence that young people are migrating from employment to education (those previously who would have been employed are now in education). This could be seen as structural youth unemployment, and the we need to consider whether we are really helping young people into the labour market.
• Too often young people leave education to go into low paid, temporary employment, or unemployment and come back to college to gain another qualification at the same level that they previously acquired.
• Arguably we are stockpiling qualifications , against other countries – qualifications that are not actually needed for the labour market. “Qualifications become increasingly self-referential inside an education system that fails to engage with the reality of the labour market, which surprisingly places little value on most vocational qualifications currently offered in FE colleges.”
• Do these qualifications actually make us more innovative, creative, raise the GDP – arguably no. Very weak evidence that qualifications leads to jobs, unless you need that qualification to register for a particular job.
• ‘In search of the elusive quarry’ – employability and generic skills, or the ‘Unbearable lightness of skills’. Attempting to define a skills set is a fool’s errand and a waste of money – over past 30 years there have been 5 policy changes trying to define skills needed, but skills need to contextualized and cannot successfully be taught in isolation.
• Argues for more school based vocational system similar to Austria’s.
• Stop putting up with qualification pathways that don’t lead anywhere.
• Help young people develop to be innovative and creative – develop businesses.


2. Gary Warke, Deputy Chief Executive of Hull College Group, one of the largest FE colleges in England. Outlined strategies used to engage and sustain young people in college.
• Offer discovery ½ days/full days for pupils at age 13/14, parents and school staff. Raises the awareness of college potential and helps develop partnership working with schools.
• Developing a range of apprenticeships with local employers.
• Provide alternative learning provisions using collaboration with school, college and other learning providers.
• Very clear pathways with qualifications: entry to degree.
• Constant curriculum review to make sure this reflects labour market opportunities.
• Guidance and support crucial. Contacts need to be made and sustained with schools early on. A great deal of pastoral care was given in guidance tutoring.
• Innovation in learning and teaching – have in place learning coaches for lecturers and learning mentors for young people.
• Core skill are integrated into all subjects.
• Developed a teaching award for those teaching young people – awarded by Edexel, as the it was recognised that additional knowledge and skills were needed.
• E-learning co-ordinator employed in each faculty to help embed technology in the curriculum and to keep staff up-to-date with innovations in technology.

3. Dr. Ian Finlay, Independent Researcher, Young people on the margins: in need of more choices and more chances in twenty-first century Scotland.
Dr Finlay was discussing his recently published paper (British Educational research Journal, October 2010). The aim of the study was to find out more about the lives of young people catagorised as NEET. The research team worked with 26 young people in small groups, and engaged with them using a variety of creative and artistic activities designed to help them construct accounts of their lives. Three significant issues emerged from their lives stories:

• The problematic nature of the discourse of NEET, and why Scotland had changed to MCMC;
• The challenges of school-exclusion policies and practices and;
• The myth of low aspirations. Young people have the same aspirations as other people but their expectations are lower.

• There needs to be more opportunities that are tailored to meet individual needs, and more choices in terms of the range of provision available – often in a non-formal or voluntary sector. “Youth workers and advisors in these sectors seem to be able to develop the kind of close, supportive relationships with young people that are difficult to develop in secondary schools because of the structures and numbers involved.”

• Argues for family size scale of provision – difficult to provide in schools and colleges.

I have the research paper if anyone is interested in reading it.

For further information contact me: Karen.lawson@scotcol.ac.uk